WASHINGTON — Strug- gling to generate second-term momentum, President Barack Obama will use his State of the Union address Tuesday to announce new executive actions on job training and retirement security, while prodding a divided Congress to work harder on expanding economic mobility for middle- class Americans.

Obama’s broad themes — described by the White House as opportunity, action and optimism — might find some support among Republicans, who also have picked up the inequality mantle in recent months.

But as Congress barrels toward the midterm elections, there’s little indication the president will win over the GOP with his legislative policy prescriptions, including a renewed push to increase the minimum wage and expand access to early childhood education.

With its grand traditions and huge prime-time television audience, the State of the Union offers Obama an opportunity to start fresh after a year where his legislative agenda stalled, his signature health care law floundered and his approval rating tumbled.

Obama has been tinkering with the speech in his typical fashion, writing out notes longhand on yellow legal pads and scribbling edits on drafts typed out by his speech-writing team.

Aides are also working on an interactive version of the speech that will run online and feature charts and statistics about the president’s proposals as he’s speaking.

Although each of Obama’s speeches to Congress has centered on the economy, the challenges have changed as the nation has moved away from the deep recession. Corporate profits and the financial markets have reached record highs, but many Americans are grappling with long-term unemployment and stagnant salaries.

Obama has struggled to gain traction on Capitol Hill for many of the economic initiatives he supports, including reinstating unemployment insurance for more than 1 million Americans who have been out of work for a long period of time.

With that in mind, White House officials say the speech will include announcements on policies he will undertake on his own. While officials would not detail the specific initiatives, they did say they would center on job training and boosting retirement security.

“When American jobs and livelihoods depend on getting something done, he will not wait for Congress,” said White House senior adviser Dan Pfeiffer in an e-mail to supporters Saturday.

Broader initiatives will still need congressional approval, including increasing the minimum wage and expanding early childhood education programs.

Obama is expected to renew his call for Congress to overhaul the nation’s patchwork immigration laws. He will also tout his health care law, which has rebounded somewhat after a disastrous launch in October.

Related news

Low poll numbers for Obama, Congress

• WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama will speak to the nation Tuesday night with approval ratings lower than for any of his previous State of the Union addresses, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll.

His approval stands at 46 percent, up from a low of 42 percent in November. Still, for the first time on the eve of a State of the Union address, more Americans rate his performance negatively than positively, with 50 percent disapproving. Obama’s approval ratings are almost identical to those of George W. Bush at a similar point in his presidency in 2006.

Confidence in Congress is even lower. Twenty-seven percent say they have confidence in Democrats to make the right decisions for the country as opposed to 72 percent who do not, while 19 percent have confidence in Republicans and 80 percent do not. The Washington Post

More in News

With his choice of restaurant executive Andrew Puzder to serve as his Labor secretary, President-elect Donald Trump has now tapped six big donors and fundraisers to serve in his administration, lining up an unprecedented concentration of wealthy backers for top posts.

Last month, Denver’s Department of Safety fired a deputy sheriff for using racial slurs and harassing inmates and a police sergeant for drinking while in uniform and abandoning a post to have sex with a woman.